Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto, advisor to a number of high-profile real estate investors, was arrested in Israel in October, as The Real Deal and others have reported. Now, according to Israeli news website News 2, Israeli law enforcement is close to indicting the Rabbi and his wife for attempting to bribe a police officer in addition to money laundering, the charge for which he was previously arrested.
Pinto reportedly offered $200,000 to Brigadier General Ephraim Bracha, chief of the Police Investigation Division, who was investigating Pinto on suspicion of money laundering. The Rabbi hoped to receive information on the ongoing probe into his affairs, according to a report from Israeli news site Vos Iz Neias.
It appears that Pinto was set up in a sting by Israeli law enforcement, which set up a meeting with Bracha, during which Pinto further implicated himself.
Pinto’s public relations officer, Amir Dan, denied the allegations and said the meeting with Bracha was set up for the Rabbi to disprove the previous allegations against him, Vos Iz Neias said. [Vos Iz Neias via News 2] –Guelda Voien